You, Me, and Label Makes Three: Fashion's Coupled-Up Designers

It's difficult for any top fashion designer to separate business and pleasure. Throw a life partner into the mix, and it's downright impossible. Or is it? ELLE.com asked these designer couples about working together, curbing fashion talk at the dinner table, and PDA on the runway.

Preen

Preen

Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi; together 17 years with two children

How did you meet? "On an art foundation in the Isle Of Man when we were 18."

How do you celebrate your anniversary? "We don't usually do a special evening. We generally just book a few days off around the time of it and really just enjoy being together."

At what point did you decide to start designing together? "Helen Storey asked us to consult on her collection in 1995. It was the first time we sat down together to design."

What are the pros and cons of working together? "We know each other so well and we support each other unconditionally. We love the same things. It's hard to get away from work and hard not to talk work at all times but ultimately we would have it no other way."

How do you switch off? "We have a bolt-hole on the Suffolk coast—an old converted post office. It’s our escape, our switch-off family home. We love to be by the sea and there is no phone or Internet connection there."

Is your daughter a budding fashionista? "Yes, she announced yesterday that she was born to sparkle!"

Clements Ribeiro

Clements Ribeiro

How did you meet? "We met at Central St Martins on our very first day. We were in the same class and also happened to be neighbors. We have been together since."

What are the pros and cons of working together? "There is an enormous amount of respect and trust which can be taken for granted, especially after the pains of adapting to each other's styles. We know we are there—always—for each other. It is however very intense, at times claustrophobic. We are always on each other's feet."

What's the best date you've ever had? "We have had many as you would expect. A 'grown up' dinner date at a French bistro in Covent Garden was an unforgettable first. A weekend in Berlin as the walls were coming down was an amazing first weekend away together. Too many nights at the Hotel Costes in Paris to mention…"

What piece of advice would you give a couple looking to design together? "Make sure you can handle compromise, or, better, that you understand that compromising to your partner is a sort of upgrade."